My view is that, if you want to invest in something, buy mutual funds. Trains are to be run on a layout.
Thanks for the tip!
Mr. Burfle, try this outfit...
www.vermontcountrystore.com
They've got the Regal Crowns AND Reed's hard candies. I remember Reed's myself and had forgotten all about them until I saw them in The Vermont Country Store catalog.
Firelock76Regal Crown sours are very much back, I've tried them and they taste the same, to me at least. But the one they DIDN'T bring back is the one they should have, the "Sour Apple" candy. Man, were they SOUR! When we were kids we loved 'em, pop one in your mouth and you could feel your eardrums imploding! They'd put you on your hands and knees and when it was gone you'd hear yourself gasping "Wow, Give me another one!" Oh baby, they were that good!
When I was a kid, my grandfather carried them in his store. I remember lemon, cherry, and maybe orange. I loved them. I was just in a Candy store yesterday. They had the Bonomo turkish taffy, but no Regal Crown. Maybe I'll try for some in my next Amazon order.
I also liked Reeds cinamon hard candies. I don't remember them being hot.
Thank God I'm more of a salt junkie than a chocolate one. If I lived around the corner from Sweeties I'd be dead by now.
That's my problem with O-So, I want my lime soda! (I remember liking milk-shake bars too btw! ) B.A. Sweeties is just around the corner from me and coincidentally my dentist is half way between us!
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
cwburfle Milk-Shake bars are out of production and have been for years. You never know what will be brought back. Bonomo Turkish Taffy was off the market for a very long time. It was brought back a couple of years ago. (Don't know if they are still making them). From comments I've read, Regal Crown sours (hard candy) was unavailable for a long time, but they are back too. Unfortunately, the comments say they don't taste the same.
Milk-Shake bars are out of production and have been for years.
You never know what will be brought back. Bonomo Turkish Taffy was off the market for a very long time. It was brought back a couple of years ago. (Don't know if they are still making them). From comments I've read, Regal Crown sours (hard candy) was unavailable for a long time, but they are back too. Unfortunately, the comments say they don't taste the same.
CB&Q scrambler81..... I recently cleaned under tables and discovered a mth ps-2 amtrack ready to run set that has been there for?????? guess im guilty of the unopened boxes !!
scrambler81..... I recently cleaned under tables and discovered a mth ps-2 amtrack ready to run set that has been there for??????
guess im guilty of the unopened boxes !!
Hey, I cleaned out a closet once and found 300 rounds of 30-06 I'd forgotten I had.
Just like in your case, Christmas came early that year!
CB&Qhonestly I never could wrap my head around someone buying vintage trains and then set them on a shelf and stare at them, but then each of us has our own way of enjoying trains and all other items we accrue during our lifetime!
I can understand someone wanting to leave a train on the shelf, some are just really nice to look at. I still have most of my Mantua steamers, even though I doubt I'll ever run HO again. I just love the way they look, so I keep them displayed. I also have loads of diecast cars that I display. Love the models, the colors and the variety. I just like using these things to decorate my home.
What I don't really get is the lure of trains that are still sealed in a box, especially a brown cardboard box with nothing but a Lionel logo on it. I've seen a few of these on auction sites, going for big money. What do you do with it? Who would you show it to, and would they really get excited? Would it be like a pregnant woman showing off her sonogram? You run around showing off an X-ray and yelling "Look! There's a train in there!" I just don't see it, I'd have to rip it open.
Absolutely fascinating link Becky, unfortunately they can't help much. Milk-Shake bars are out of production and have been for years.
Formerly produced by the Hollywood Candy Company, along with Pay-Day and Zero bars, the Milk-Shakes (kind of like a Milky-Way, but HEAVY on the malt) disappeared when Hollywood was bought by Hershey. Why? Who knows? Hershey had nothing comperable. Pay-Days (which I dearly love) and Zero's are still around.
Hollywood must have had a special deal for retailers around Halloween when I was a kid, because on "The Day" they were all over the place, and we loved 'em!
Oh well, maybe someday they'll be back. Boo-hoo.
Firelock76They can't help me with Milk-Shake bars either, blast it!
If anybody would have them: http://www.sweetiescandy.com/
Hey, when I worked in a gunshop there were plenty of collectors who'd buy the item, then take it home and put it in a glass case and NEVER shoot it!
Why? Who knows why? As one of them said to me "SHOOT A GUN? Are you mad?"
Me? I've shot every one I've got, from my 1779 Brown Bess to my 1985 M1A. That's what they were made for, right?
And CB&Q, you're right on the money. Out in my Chugger Barn I've got shelves displaying freight cars, passenger cars (juiced the tracks they're on so they light up) and locomotives.
Maybe subconciously I'm trying to re-create a hardware store I went to with my father around 1959 or so that had a big "Wall O'Trains" around Christmas time. It does look cool, though!
I bought all trains to run them yet when you rerally stop and think on it we all are collectors look at your shelves with freight cars and engines sitting on them!
I doubt anyone of us really wants to sell our trains rather they outlive us and continue to give joy to the next recipient!
honestly I never could wrap my head around someone buying vintage trains and then set them on a shelf and stare at them, but then each of us has our own way of enjoying trains and all other items we accrue during our lifetime!
You betcha Becky! I see great minds think alike!
Wayne
PS: Did you check out my last comment on Bob's latest Menards blog. If you haven't have a look at this: www.vintagesodacompany.com
Type O-SO in the search block, click the magnifying glass, and be prepared to be amazed.
Unfortunately they can't help me with Brookdale's.
They can't help me with Milk-Shake bars either, blast it!
PS-1 you're talking more like 20 plus years old, so I agree, unless it's MIB that price was high.
As one who's been collecting antiques since I was a teenager let me pass on some advice:
If it's manufactured and sold as a "collectable," it isn't.
"Limted edition" means limited to how many they can sell.
And the Golden Rule...
Buy it because you LIKE it! NOT because of any possible appreciation, that's just gravy if it happens.
This talk of what goes on at trains shows is exactly the same thing I've seen at gun shows, antique shows, and camera shows. It doesn't stop me from going to any of them. If I think the price is right, I'll buy it. If the seller has what we used to call a "telephone number" price on the article or thinks he's got a piece of "The True Cross" I'll just pass it by. I'm not gonna die if I don't go home with it.
Also, and this is just me, if I DON'T see a price on something I (usually) won't bother to ask. If the seller's not proud enough of his price to put it out there for all to see he's not worth the asking, in my opinion anyway. If you're going to be a retailer, BE a retailer!
While I'm on a roll, let me give you an example of how I operate...
I was at a train show last year, and an exhibitor had an MTH Camelback with Jersey Central markings. Hey, I'm from New Jersey, I'm a Jersey Central fan, and the $300 price didn't seem too bad. THEN I saw the PS-1 marking on the box label.
Sorry pal, three bills for a locomotive that's ten-plus years old with an obsolete sound system? Not from me. However, at the same show I saw an MTH "General" of the same vintage priced at $150. THAT one I bought! Works just fine too, and it's a nice addition to my 4-4-0 collection.
cwburfle Train buying and selling often brings out the very worst in people. Sad, but true. And the TCA membership really isn't any different than the general population. I don't think I'd limit the buying and selling to trains.
Train buying and selling often brings out the very worst in people.
Sad, but true. And the TCA membership really isn't any different than the general population. I don't think I'd limit the buying and selling to trains.
True. So glad I don't buy, sell or TCA. Maybe you're starting to understand...maybe comprehend the original poster's comments, and those that immediatley followed...and the TITLE of the thread.
"Hobby, Investment or ?."
So we try to steer folks from the investment attitude, and how may posts obfuscating that are there?
How many model or toy train organizations are there with "collector's" in their name again?
I should post the letter I have from NASA in my files....This Is NOT Rocket Science.
It is not now a viable investment strategy.
And with the lack of younger generations to take it up, it will all go into the dumpster when we are gone.
cwburfleIt's too bad you beleive your mother was ripped off by some individuals who belonged to the TCA
In my time in the hobby, TCA member or not, most sellers or buyers I have encountered would do anything to get the better end of the deal. Had a long time TCA member pretty much rob me on a doctored up 50th Anniversary set, swearing the set was bought by his Dad in the 50's and he was the only owner.
If you want to continuously misunderstand and divert conversation, just come out and say it.
No, I don't want to misunderstand what you wrote. Why don't you clarify what you meant?
How long do you want to keep this going?
As long as you keep spouting hateful nonesense.
cwburfle And it was done so she could sell the stuff at the TCA meets. They knew full well. Being the oldest of 5 of a widow, I know how this works..and smells. From a distance. And, yes, the items started showing up later on from those same "advisors" at higher prices.I am not following you. She sold the trains at TCA shows and was able to get the prices you stated were over inflated? Then why did people buy them? Or did the "advisors" buy the trains at inflated prices, and were then able to sell them for even more? - The market for trains must have been rather strange in your area. Or did they take them to a national show? - still strange that TCA members would overpay.You've never, ever heard any (specific) TCA member mention "one of those just sold at the TCA auction for a HUGE amount!" or something close...which now in their mind set the new, higher price.This has nothing to do with Collecting Trains or the TCA. Ever hear of antiques road show, Pawn Stars, or Storage Wars? Why do you think these treasure hunting shows are popular. Some people like to think their treasures are worth lots of dollars. And what a few TCA members might do does not reflect the organization as a whole. It's too bad you beleive your mother was ripped off by some individuals who belonged to the TCA.
And it was done so she could sell the stuff at the TCA meets. They knew full well.
Being the oldest of 5 of a widow, I know how this works..and smells. From a distance.
And, yes, the items started showing up later on from those same "advisors" at higher prices.I am not following you. She sold the trains at TCA shows and was able to get the prices you stated were over inflated? Then why did people buy them? Or did the "advisors" buy the trains at inflated prices, and were then able to sell them for even more? - The market for trains must have been rather strange in your area. Or did they take them to a national show? - still strange that TCA members would overpay.You've never, ever heard any (specific) TCA member mention "one of those just sold at the TCA auction for a HUGE amount!" or something close...which now in their mind set the new, higher price.This has nothing to do with Collecting Trains or the TCA. Ever hear of antiques road show, Pawn Stars, or Storage Wars? Why do you think these treasure hunting shows are popular. Some people like to think their treasures are worth lots of dollars. And what a few TCA members might do does not reflect the organization as a whole. It's too bad you beleive your mother was ripped off by some individuals who belonged to the TCA.
And stop adding to what I said.
And also, watch the selective reading. I had already mentioned Roadshow and all those others.
It IS about TCA...and collecting....just so you know and fully understand, what is the middle of three words abbreviated by TCA?
I already explained my view of why those tv shows are popular....but again, selective reading enters in.
I think the worst part of all is when manufacturers produce "collectibles". How do they know they are "collectible"?
Takes time to develop collectability.
That is fed by Road Show, Pawn Stars, American Picker, Chasing Classic cars.
We sold off, this year, my neighbor's restored 1941 Lincoln Continental convertible, V-12, appaised at 70K, got 63K. You see on CCC a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr, coupe, restored, auction out (allegedly) at 130K.
Everyone quotes auction figures....but, as long as you know 95% of the stuff you read on the algore is made up, right?
American Restoration. Cannot be right. Who would pay 10 grand torestore a pedal car to sit on a shelf?
Read up, a lot is faked as to who and where anyway.
So we are "told" stuff is collectible....to us, maybe, but nobody else it seems.
The only thing that increases in value, it sems, is your house...until the next housing market crash anyway.
Collections come, collections go.
Original retail for all of this was around 5 or 6 thousand. I'll be very lucky if I get one thousand for it now, which was the "asking price" values I started with. So far, I'm giving an average 25% discount on the asking price. But that's OK. I just don't have the room anymore so it's time to let others enjoy these things.
cwburfle Maybe it's just the local TCA guys who advise widows on pricing, where it becomes obvious to even the most wild-eyed TCA regular member, that pricing a junk 736 with scratched and gouged paint, bent cab roof corners, and a HUGE full 0 scale GN boxcar oval on the tender, so big it folds over the top and bottom of the tender sides, for MORE than a decent one is going for.....guess what will happen when they try to sell some of their "investment" at auction?Does one have to be a TCA member to advise widows on pricing? Regardless, I guess I've met a widow or two who was ill advised on the value of her husbands trains. I'd guess that the folks were trying to be kind, not realizing that the widow was actually going to try to sell the trains at those prices. Oh, well, HER junk 736 went for this much, so OURS is now worth much, much more. If their motive was to make their own stuff seem more valuable, they were only deluding themselves. It's not like the widow was going to purchase more trains.
Maybe it's just the local TCA guys who advise widows on pricing, where it becomes obvious to even the most wild-eyed TCA regular member, that pricing a junk 736 with scratched and gouged paint, bent cab roof corners, and a HUGE full 0 scale GN boxcar oval on the tender, so big it folds over the top and bottom of the tender sides, for MORE than a decent one is going for.....guess what will happen when they try to sell some of their "investment" at auction?Does one have to be a TCA member to advise widows on pricing? Regardless, I guess I've met a widow or two who was ill advised on the value of her husbands trains. I'd guess that the folks were trying to be kind, not realizing that the widow was actually going to try to sell the trains at those prices. Oh, well, HER junk 736 went for this much, so OURS is now worth much, much more.
If their motive was to make their own stuff seem more valuable, they were only deluding themselves. It's not like the widow was going to purchase more trains.
And, yes, the items started showing up later on from those same "advisors" at higher prices.
Anything you can do to "increase your profit", right?
Funny what life experience does to how you view things.
If you think it was right for them to overvalue her "junk", knowing it was going to be sold at TCA meets (where else would an old lady take it?) then okay, fine, good.
You've never, ever heard any (specific) TCA member mention "one of those just sold at the TCA auction for a HUGE amount!" or something close...which now in their mind set the new, higher price.
Where do you think the evilbait business model came from?
You see the same stuff...."one just like this sold for ten times what it's worth!"
TOC
My collecting has been as much about passing time as it has anything else. I love going to shows, hobby shops, antique shops, etc. I enjoy wandering around, seeing what is there, and buying things that appeal to me. I don't need these things I buy, I just like them. I rarely go out knowing what I'm looking for, I'll just know it when I see it. My 0 gauge collection isn't huge, but it is more than enough, which does not mean I'll stop anytime soon. My toy collection is huge. Even if I didn't buy anymore, I still enjoy looking at everything I have, building displays, and changing what is on display.
Two weeks ago I set up at a toy show, and I sold off much of my old HO equipment, as well as a ton of Johnny Lightning diecast cars, and some other odds and ends. Most expensive thing I sold was $15.00, yet I cleared over $600.00. Technically, I lost money. However, I've gotten countless hours of enjoyment out of those items, and I now have some money that I didn't have 3 weeks ago. Could I say that if my pastime was golfing, or going to the casino, or hanging out at the bar with the guys? Not likely. I have a lot of fun, and they are still worth something when I'm done. So I think my trains and toys represent money well spent.
Oh yeah, I've also been known to give away Johnny Lightnings as treats on Halloween. At $3.00 to $5.00 each, they are a little more expensive than a Snickers bar, but I can't put a price on the looks I get from little kids when I hand those over.
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